Large-Print Canasta Score Sheet

Print a big, easy-to-read Canasta score sheet with a running total for every team, or keep score on this page and let it add up the hands and tell you each team’s next meld minimum. Made for kitchen tables, card clubs and senior centers.

Print a score sheet Keep score on screen

Common rules, your way. This page uses classic partnership Canasta scoring. Rules vary between families and clubs, so feel free to adjust them: the boxes on the sheet work with any scoring, and you can change the winning score.

How to play Canasta in 6 easy steps

Two teams of two. Partners sit across from each other. Shuffle two decks together with four jokers (108 cards), deal 11 cards each, and turn one card face up to start the discard pile.
Draw, meld, discard. Take the top card of the deck, or pick up the whole discard pile if you can use its top card in a meld. Put down any melds, then discard one card.
Melds are three or more of a kind. Jokers and 2s are wild, but a meld needs at least two natural cards and no more than three wild cards. Your team’s first meld must reach 15, 50, 90 or 120 points, depending on your score.
Watch out for 3s. Put red 3s down straight away for 100 each (all four are worth 800) and draw a card to replace each one. A black 3 on the discard pile stops the next player from taking it.
Make canastas. A meld of seven cards is a canasta. A natural canasta (no wild cards) is worth 500, a mixed one 300. Your team needs at least one canasta before anyone can go out.
Go out and add up. Going out earns 100, or 200 if you go out “concealed” in one turn without having melded before. Add bonuses and card points, take away cards left in hand. First team to 5,000 wins.

How to use this score sheet

Choose teams or players and how many, then type the names, or leave the name boxes empty to fill in by hand.
Pick Large or Extra large print and your paper size, then press Print score sheet. Each team gets a Score column for the hand and a Total column for the running total.
After each hand, write the hand score, then add it to the total above it. Check the meld table at the bottom of the sheet to see what each team needs to open next hand.
Prefer a tablet? The score keeper below adds the hands, shows each team’s meld minimum, and announces the winner at 5,000.

Quick tips

Count the cards in each meld as you go and jot it on scrap paper. Adding up at the end is much quicker.
Hold back a pair of naturals when you can. They let you pick up a big discard pile later.
Keep an eye on your total: once you pass 1,500 your opening meld jumps to 90.
New players may like to leave the discard pile always “open” at first, then add the freezing rules later.

Canasta score keeper

Type each team’s hand score in the next empty box. The totals and each team’s meld minimum update as you go, and everything is saved on this device. Press New game to clear the scores.

Hand score calculator (optional)

Fill in what one team has at the end of the hand. The score is worked out as you type.

Natural canastas (500 each)

Mixed canastas (300 each)

Red 3s (100 each, all four 800)

Going out

Points of cards melded (+)

Points of cards left in hand (−)

This team has melded (if not, red 3s count against it)

Hand score: 0

Team or player

Card point counter

Not sure what the cards add up to? Count each kind of card and we will do the sum.

Jokers (50 each)

2s (20 each)

Aces (20 each)

8, 9, 10, J, Q, K (10 each)

4, 5, 6, 7 (5 each)

Black 3s (5 each)

Card points: 0

What is on this Canasta score sheet printable

The sheet has a pair of columns for each team or player: Score for the points made in that hand and Total for the running total. There are 14 numbered hand rows, which is plenty for a normal game to 5,000. The title, a date line and the winning score are printed across the top, and the bottom of the page carries a reminder of the meld minimums, bonuses and card values, so nobody needs to look them up mid-game.

Large print uses about 16-point names and 14-point labels; Extra large uses about 20 and 18. Everything is heavy black lines on white paper, which photocopies well.

Canasta scoring quick reference

Classic Canasta points (rules vary; adjust to suit your group)
What	Points
Natural canasta (7 cards, no wild cards)	500
Mixed canasta (7 cards, with wild cards)	300
Each red 3 (all four: 800)	100
Going out / going out concealed	100 / 200
Joker	50
2 (wild) or ace	20
8, 9, 10, jack, queen, king	10
4, 5, 6, 7 and black 3s	5

First meld needed, by your team’s score before the hand
Your score	Meld needed
Below 0 (a minus score)	15
0 to 1,495	50
1,500 to 2,995	90
3,000 or more	120

A worked example. Your team made one natural canasta (500) and two mixed canastas (600), put down one red 3 (100) and went out (100). The cards in your melds add up to 420 and you had nothing left in hand. Your hand score is 500 + 600 + 100 + 100 + 420 = 1,720. If a team ends a hand without having melded at all, its red 3s count against it.

Running Canasta at a senior center

Teach with open hands. For a first lesson, play one hand with all cards face up so the group can talk through melds and canastas together.
Use a shorter game. A game to 5,000 can take two hours. For a one-hour session, play to 2,500 or 3,000 instead; just change Game ends at above before printing.
Make the discard pile easy to see. Spread the top few cards a little, or use a rotating tray, so everyone can see what is on offer.
Keep the meld table handy. It is printed at the foot of every sheet. Point to it at the start of each hand.
Run a club ladder. Print a sheet for every table and use the on-screen keeper at the front to show the leading team.

Printing tips

In the print window choose Scale: 100% and turn Headers and footers off.
Match the paper size above to your printer. Letter and A4 both fit up to six teams on one page.

Frequently asked questions

What is the minimum meld in Canasta?

It depends on your team’s score before the hand: 15 below zero, 50 from 0 to 1,495, 90 from 1,500 to 2,995 and 120 from 3,000 up. The score keeper shows each team’s current minimum.

What does going out concealed mean?

It means putting down all your cards in one turn, including a canasta, without having melded anything earlier in the hand. In classic rules it earns 200 instead of 100.

Do red 3s ever count against you?

Yes. In classic rules, if your team has not put down any melds when the hand ends, your red 3s are subtracted instead of added. The calculator has a tick box for this.

What if both teams pass 5,000 in the same hand?

The team with the higher total wins. The score keeper checks this for you.

Can I use this for three-handed or six-handed Canasta?

Yes. Choose up to six players or teams. Every sheet still fits on one page.

Are my scores saved?

Yes, in this browser on this device only. Nothing is sent to us. Press New game to clear them. See the privacy policy.

More free score sheets: Hand and Foot, Mexican Train and Pinochle, or see all score sheets.